Former Chilean general under Pinochet dies in apparent suicide

SANTIAGO, Aug 13 (Reuters) - A retired Chilean general died
of a gunshot wound to the head on Thursday, in an apparent
suicide days after a court sentenced him to 20 years in prison
for planning the murder of a chemist who worked for former
dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Hernan Ramirez Rurange, 76, was sentenced along with 13
other ex-army officers on Tuesday for planning the murder of
Eugenio Berrios, whose body was found on a Uruguayan beach in
1995.

Berrios' death was part of a scheme by Pinochet operatives
to obstruct human rights investigations into the dictator's 1973
to 1990 regime, according to the court.

The Chilean government said on Thursday that Ramirez Rurange
died of a gunshot wound at his home in an upscale Santiago
neighborhood, but did not provide further details.

Local media reported that the former general killed himself.
He was set to begin his sentence within days.

Berrios oversaw the production of sarin gas and other
chemicals for Pinochet's government, and long faced allegations
that he helped poison a popular Chilean politician in 1982.

Some 25 years since Pinochet left power, human rights abuse
cases dating from the dictatorship era are still moving through
the Chilean courts or coming to light for the first time.

Ramirez Rurange's death comes just days after Manuel
Contreras, the head of Pinochet's feared secret police, died of
natural causes on August 7, prompting celebrations in the
capital.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and
Jonathan Oatis)